WASHINGTON, DC - March 18, 2003 - With war on Iraq imminent following President Bush's 48-hour deadline for Saddam Hussein and his sons to leave Iraq, U.S. church leaders today offered a final appeal for an alternative. A print ad campaign in five leading British newspapers - The Guardian, The London Times, The Independent, The Telegraph and The Financial Times - appealed to Prime Minister Tony Blair: "We need you to be a true friend of America in this critical hour. We need you to help our government not make a terrible mistake."

"If we wage war on Iraq, it will be a failure of political and moral imagination," said Jim Wallis, executive director and editor of Sojourners. "While we acknowledge that we are seconds away from the start of a preemptive strike on Iraq, we continue to believe that war is not the answer to the threats posed by Saddam Hussein. Our political leaders have not exhausted all diplomatic options. There is still a credible alternative."

The ad campaign, in cooperation with Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities, is expected to reach nearly 3 million readers. It follows an intense mobilization to promote a 6-Point Plan with solid options for disarming Iraq without war. The plan was developed by the U.S. religious delegation that met with Prime Minister Blair last month. In recent days, it was considered seriously by senior British officials and was well known in the U.S. administration. The plan was featured on the opinion page of The Washington Post last Friday, and was delivered to Prime Minister Blair, President Bush, Secretary General Kofi Annan, and members of the U.S. Congress and British Parliament. It remains a serious and credible alternative to war, even at this late hour.

"As Americans prepare for a war with Iraq, I believe that there is still another way - a third way - to prevent the unleashing of such massive military firepower against those who will be most victimized, the Iraqi people," said Rt. Rev. John Chane, Episcopal Bishop of Washington, D.C.

The 6-Point Plan is comprised of the following elements:
1. Indict Saddam Hussein for crimes against humanity and remove him from power.
2. Enforce coercive disarmament with inspections backed by U.N. multinational force.
3. Foster a democratic Iraq through post-Hussein U.N. administration.
4. Organize a massive humanitarian effort now for the people of Iraq.
5. Recommit to a "Roadmap to Peace" in the Middle East.
6. Reinvigorate and sustain international cooperation in the "war against terrorism."

The 6-Point Plan is endorsed by the entire ecumenical delegation that met with Prime Minister Blair on Feb. 18:
Jim Wallis, Executive Director and Editor of Sojourners
John Bryson Chane, Episcopal Bishop of Washington, D.C.
Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church USA
Melvin Talbert, Ecumenical Officer of the United Methodist Council of Bishops
Daniel Weiss, Immediate Past General Secretary of the American Baptist Churches in the USA.

To read the complete text of the print advertisement, please visit http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=action.newspaper.

To read the complete 6-Point Plan, please visit http://www.sojo.net/action.

To read "There is a Third Way" by Wallis and Chane (The Washington Post, March 14, 2003), please visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23271-2003Mar13.html.

About Sojourners - http://www.sojo.net Christians for justice and peace.
Sojourners - publisher of a bimonthly magazine of the same name - is a voice and vision for social change. Founded in 1971 as a faith-based organization, Sojourners provides an alternative perspective on faith, politics, and culture through its magazine, Web site, e-mail services, media commentaries, and public events. Ecumenical and progressive, Sojourners lifts up the biblical connection between social justice and spiritual renewal. Sojourners nurtures community by bringing together people from the various traditions and streams of the church and also hosts an annual program of voluntary service.

About the Episcopal Diocese of Washington - http://www.edow.org
The Episcopal Diocese of Washington is part of the Episcopal Church in the USA and of the Anglican Communion worldwide. A diocese is a spiritual, geographical, and political grouping of congregations of the Episcopal Church, and the members of those congregations, within the oversight of a bishop elected by that diocese. The Diocese of Washington is made up of about 42,000 people and the 95 congregations of which they are members.

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